Alcohol By Volume

Does Beer Expire

Does Beer Expire?

Lets We Ponder Does Beer Expire / Does Beer Ever Expire?

You love beer right! 

You always look for the weekend, to feel the taste of your favorite beer with your best ones.

Have you ever explore in deep of the beer world? 

Nowadays, many people are fascinated by choosing the best flagship beers from the versatile styles that the world offers. Next time, when you get a chance to get a beer that you are not familiar with, make sure to consider these life hacking tips.

Does Beer Expire?

Technically, we can say “Yes”. 

At present, all of the beer bottles are having printed expiration dates. So the quality of the beer will decrease gradually over a period of time will cause bad effects in the flavor and the alcohol content of beer

But Does Beer Really Expire? 

“No.” 

You can consume the beer if it is properly stored and the package is undamaged. It is not so unsafe to the heath. But once the expiration ends, the content would be flat, tasteless and unconvincing to drink.

When Does Beer Expire? 

Actually, the date mentioned on most beer bottles isn’t the expiration date. It’s called Pull date. Nowadays many profiteer brewers not interested in the offering “fresh and worthy” beers to be sold to customers. But some Flagstaff breweries are always serving the fresh beers with some notable discounts.

Generally, the beers contain a” Best By,” “Best if Used By,” “Best Before”, or “Best When Used By” date but this is not an expiration date, it is the estimation done by the beer maker of how long the beer will remain at its peak quality.

Can You Drink Expired Beer?

The big domestic breweries have amusing ways of differentiating their flagship beers. Coors Light is made with water from the Rocky Mountains, which change color depending on the temperature of the beer. FYI, cans start to turn blue at 48ºF and are fully blue at 44ºF. Interestingly, the bottle labels are calibrated to turn blue two degrees lower.

[Please comment if you have a theory] Miller Lite alternately prides itself on tasting like a full-bodied beer, or the opposite: that it has the least carbs of any of the mainstream light beers.

Bud Light advertises itself as a beer for grown-up frat boys and generally has the funniest ads. Lastly, Budweiser brands itself on its ingredients and its freshness, which is described by Born On Dating.

The dating seems silly, because I couldn’t possibly care less when my beer came off the line in St. Louis or wherever it’s produced. If in the situation where I’m drinking it, maybe I do want to know if I’m going to be assaulted by skunkiness.

The issue is that skunked beer is usually caused by exposure to light and fluctuations in temperature, rather than time elapsing. Sure, with more time, it’s more likely that the beer has been exposed, but not if it’s been sitting in a cool basement or other area that ‘s dark and doesn’t experience wild temperature swings.

The above picture is an example of when I drank a beer that was well over it’s suggested time for consumption, although by how much is a mystery. I was in Mykonos, Greece, where beers at a bar were €7 a few summers ago.

Needless to say, visiting a store that sold expired Bud (why not Budweiser?) for €1.50 was a smart move. And the fact that it was “expired” wasn’t much of a deterrent. Unlike food, beer isn’t going to spoil. The alcohol in the beer kills off germs, so it’s not going to be like old meat or bread where there’s mold, fungus, bacteria, etc. At least according to a professor who made beer from communal spit in a pot of corn.

So, it’s not dangerous or anything to drink expired beer. I wouldn’t recommend it as a practice, but you could probably return it if it is skunked anyway. While skunked beer might make you sick in the drinking sense, you’ll be fine in the medical sense.

How Long Does It Take For Beer to Expire? 

Some easily available forms are bottled beer, canned beer, and homemade beer. Some of them are having a low alcohol content that can at least last for six months while some of the other beers that come with high alcohol content are made to feel the taste good for years.

In the pantry, we can store six to nine months on the shelf life. High volume suppliers are preferred to storing the beers in the fridge or freezer shelf for six to two years to preserve the quality of the beer. While it is impossible to stop the aging process of beer, but holding the beer at cool temperatures will definitely slow up the effects of aging.

If you want to maximize the shelf life of canned or bottled beer, store the beer at a lower temperature between 45° F and 55° F (colder than the normal room temperature) in the fridge or refrigerator.

Proper storing of the beer will normally stay at high quality for about 5 to 6 months when stored at room temperature, while it will usually remain safe to use after that.

Finding the expired beer is also quite a challenge, here are some tips to help you to find the expired beer

  • You can miss the Smell of freshness when you open it
  • Missing of white foam growing as soon as you open it
  • Dusty settlement in the bottom of the beer.

Does Beer Expire If Unopened? 

Once the beer is opened, it should be consumed within one or two days. After some time, it’ll be fine, but the taste would be flat and flavorless. 

Can you drink the open beer after some time?

Yes, you can. If you wish to keep it in the fridge for a day is fine. The fridge or freezer is the right place to maintain it in a cool environment to preserve the taste and flavor of the beer. 

So, if you want to extend the shelf life of an opened beer, keep beer away from direct sources of heat or light because too much exposure to heat can cause to develop a bad taste. Mostly dark bottled beers are preferred to reflect the light or heat exposure. We can decrease the oxidation process by keeping the beer upright. 

Does Bottled Beer Expire?

Paying attention to the dates on bottled beers is very important? 

It may be “Pull date” or “Born dates”

You should probably pay attention to the dates on bottles, and always attempt to pick up the fresh beer as you can. There is a lot of chances to get an old bottle of beer at the store. Just try to avoid any bottle with dust or settlements at the bottom of the bottle. Always prefer to make a conversation with the seller of the store to get the taste of the best aroma beer. 

Both canned and bottled beers are having different advantages in protecting beer from the light, oxygen, and heat.

Oxidation of beer can be easily done by light exposure. Brown bottles or Dark bottles contain beer are better at keeping the exposure of the light than the bright color or transparent bottles, But canned beers are better than all of them.

Most of the canned beers are made up of aluminum which doesn’t allow the light inside of the can helps to preserve the freshness. Also, bottled beers can serve the best aroma and taste than the canned beers. You can notice the typical bottles have enough space for air. But, Beer cans are specifically designed to form an airtight seal, make sure that the beer inside would not be exposed to air. 

You may ask that is it fine to take up an expired beer.  Yes, you will not get suffer by drinking an expired beer. But surely you will miss the experience of the fresh bear contains the best aroma and taste.

So, Does Beer Expire? 

Yes, Beer does expire. Consuming the expired beer vs. fresh beer will give you lots of different experiences. For example, if it is simply old, it is safe to drink. Also, there is a lot of difference in terms of safety and taste.

When we consider safety, we all preferred to maintain some guidelines to protect our health. So we need to follow the safety guidelines while we get into drinking of expired beer or old beer. An old beer will take some healthy risks which is why they have expiration dates. Extremely old beer can cause illness and other health issues.

“Unlike bottled beer, canned beer is airtight. Nothing kills the flavor of a beer easier than oxidation.”
– Josh Counsil Brewer